#2 Western New England Surges Past #3 Suffolk in ECAC New England Semifinals, 70-60

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (March 5, 2016) - The second-seeded Western New England University women's basketball team built a ten-point third quarter lead and held off third-seeded Suffolk University in the fourth to earn a 70-60 victory this afternoon in the semifinal round of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Championship at the Alumni Healthful Living Center.

With the win, Western New England (19-10) advances to tomorrow's championship contest to take on top-seeded Keene State, which defeated Endicott 72-62 in this afternoon's other semifinal. Suffolk sees its season come to a close at 17-11.

Sophomore guard Dorothy O'Neill (Staten Island, N.Y.) led four Golden Bears in double figures with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting, knocking down 2-of-3 three-pointers and 3-of-6 free throws to go with seven rebounds, one assist and one steal. Playing against her former team, junior forward Emily Anderson (Rocky Hill, Conn.) finished with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting with five boards, while senior Chelsea Vujs (Berlin, Conn.) added ten points and four rebounds.

Juniors Sammie Battaini (Leominster, Mass.) and Sammie Olson (Tolland, Conn.) both posted solid all-around efforts, combining for 19 points, nine assists and nine rebounds.

Senior Chelsea Campellone (Fall River, Mass.) paced the visiting Rams with a game-high 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting to go with nine boards. Junior guard Georgia Bourikas (Hull, Mass.) made a significant impact off the bench, totaling 11 points, six rebounds and three assists, while junior Kelsey Schiebel (Windham, N.H.) and sophomore Alexandra Nagri (Salem, N.H.) chipped in with nine points each.

Western New England held a six-point edge after ten minutes, as the Golden Bears limited Suffolk to just seven points in the first quarter, but the Rams found their offensive rhythm in the second period and pulled even at 28 heading into the break.

Western New England came out on fire early in the second half, posting an 8-2 run with the help of six points from O'Neill to open up a 36-30 advantage. Vujs pushed the lead to seven (39-32) with a three-pointer at the 6:59 mark, before adding a layup on the Golden Bears' next possession. Western New England led by as many as ten (51-41) in the third quarter following two Anderson free throws with 1:25 on the clock, eventually extending the margin to a game-high 12 points (56-44) on a triple by Olson early in the fourth.

Suffolk fought back, however, pulling to within five (62-57) following a Schiebel trey with 3:39 left in the game, but that would be as close as the Rams got. Battaini answered for Western New England with a layup on the other end, and the Golden Bears made 4-of-6 free throws down the stretch to seal their berth in tomorrow's championship contest.

Western New England, which shot just 31.3 percent (10-of-32) from the field in the first half, connected at a 50 percent (13-of-26) clip over the final 20 minutes, finishing at 39.7 percent (23-of-58) for the game. The Golden Bears shot 43.8 percent (7-of-16) from beyond the arc and 77.3 percent (17-of-22) from the charity stripe.

Suffolk was limited to 35.4 percent (23-of-65) shooting, including 34.6 percent (9-of-26) from three-point distance.